Victorville, Calif.-based Prime Healthcare brought the claims against the physician group to the attention of the court. According to the report, Prime was blocked out of negotiations to purchase the hospital district’s assets when Valley decided to work with Physicians for Healthy Hospitals.
Officials from Prime allege that three of the hospital district’s board members have conflicts of interest, as they work for entities owned by the manager of Physicians for Healthy Hospitals, which led to the group receiving a “lowball” figure for the hospital’s assets, according to the report.
Attorneys from Valley Health and Physicians for Healthy Hospitals say that there is no proof that board members or appraisers did anything wrong, according to the report.
Valley Health is depending on the sale to help with a debt reorganization plan so it can emerge from bankruptcy. Judge Peter Carrell approved the plan and ruled that the physician group has the “means to follow through on the sale,” according to the report. He will also decide if the claims made by Prime have any merit before the sale can move forward.
Read the Press-Enterprise’s report on Valley Health System’s sale.
